Physical activity (PA) is a cornerstone of disease prevention and treatment. There is, however, a considerable disparity between public health policy, clinical guidelines and the delivery of physical activity
promotion within the National Health Service in the UK. If this is to be addressed in the battle against noncommunicable diseases, it is vital that tomorrow’s doctors understand the basic science and health benefits
of physical activity. The aim of this study was to assess the provision of physical activity teaching content in the curricula of all medical schools in the UK. Our results, with responses from all UK medical schools, uncovered some alarming findings, showing that there is widespread omission of basic teaching elements, such as the Chief Medical Officer recommendations and
guidance on physical activity. There is an urgent need for physical activity teaching to have dedicated time at medical schools, to equip tomorrow’s doctors with the
basic knowledge, confidence and skills to promote physical activity and follow numerous clinical guidelines that support physical activity promotion.

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This is an Open Access Article. It is published by the BMJ Publishing Group under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/